Why the ’90s Was The Best Decade For Pop Culture Part 2: Television and Video Games

Continuing the theme from yesterday’s article, today’s article focuses on the television shows and video games of the 1990s. Before I go on, though, I want to thank a high school friend, Chris Dotson, for giving me the idea for these articles.

The ’90s brought a wealth of television programs that changed the landscape of pop culture. Even though the first episode of The Simpsons aired on December 17, 1989, it was the only episode of the longest running show that aired in that year. The Simpsons hit its stride during the early part of the 1990s. Thanks to the 22 seasons and still going show, The Simpsons paved the way for other cartoons such as South Park, Family Guy, and Futurama in primetime. The ’90s was also a good decade for science-fiction shows. One of those shows was The X-Files. During the nine seasons of this series and a movie, The X-Files developed a cult following almost as large as the Trekkies. Then there was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy not only redefined the horror genre with the girl being the hero instead of the damsel in distress, but also had a significant impact on pop culture. The ’90s also gave way to a revival of the primetime soap and leading this revival was the man behind ’80s primetime soap, Dynasty, Aaron Spelling. In October of 1990, the Fox network introduced Spelling’s latest primetime soap, Beverly Hills, 90210. The show proved to be a huge success for Fox and at the end of Season 2 paved the way for the spin-off, Melrose Place. Beverly Hills, 90210 lasted 10 seasons and was the inspiration for the current 90210 on the CW. Some of the best sitcoms made their debut in the ’90s: Friends, Will & Grace, and Seinfeld.

The 1990s also saw a renaissance in video games. In 1991, Nintendo released their second generation console, the Super Nintendo. That same year Sega introduced the first game of their most popular franchise, Sonic the Hedgehog, on the Sega Genesis. Soon thereafter Sonic became the company’s official mascot. Sony introduced their first generation console , the Playstation, in 1994 prompting the beginning of the video game console wars between Nintendo and Sony. The game to make Sony Playstation a success did not come until 1997. The game, Final Fantasy VII, revolutionized the video game industry and went on to sell a total of 2.3 million copies.

The ’90s introduced us to the new innovations in movies and video games, gave us spectacular characters that stand the test of time, and changed the landscape of music. There was so much going on in this decade that it’s hard to cover all of it just two articles, but I think I covered a good amount of why the ’90s was the best decade for pop culture.